Rotary engine



(No Model.)

W. H. ROACH.

ROTARY ENGINE.

No. 249.402. Patented Nov.8,1881.

i. JM rnc/ys.

1v UNITED STATES l .PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM n. Renon, on TRINITY COLLEGE, AssierivonA on ONE-HALF To GEORGE A. THOMPSON,

ROTARY OF THOMASVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming para ofrnetters Patent tro; 249,402, dai-.ea 'Novembera 188i.

Application fired June 2e, 18871. (No model.)

To all whomlz't may concern: Be it known that I, W. H. of the United States, residing at Trinity Gollege, in the county of Randolph and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or gures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specication.

The vpresentin ven tion relates to that class of e rotary steam-engines in which a circular piston provided With wings or projections is located in a cylinder having steam-inlet ports arranged to discharge steam' upon the circular piston for the purpose of turning the same.

The object of the invention is to furnish an engine of a simplified construction Which shall be more effective and less liable to get out of order than iengines of an analogous construction heretoforedevised.

To this end the invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, which will hereinafter-be more fully described, and then set forth in the claim.

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view of a steam-engine embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same; and Fig. 3 isa side elevation, partly in section, showing the mannerof mounting the various parts. Fig. 4 is adetail view of the partition- 'head ofthe cylinder, partly in perspective and partly in section.

The letter A designates a horizontal cylinder or casing, which is provided With flanges a, for securing it toa vsuitable bed-plate, B. The cylindrical casin g is divided intotWo compartments by means of a partition-plate or intermediate head, C, which fills the entire bore of said cylinder. The partition-plate is so arranged in the cylinder as to form a steam-inlet or supply-chamber, D, and a smaller piston or working chamber, E. An end head, F, of the steam-supply chamber is apertured for the passage of a 'steam-inlet pipe, Gr, or said pipe may Ronan, a 'citizen `5o be connected with a permanent hollow neck or sheet tube projecting from said end head, F. The chamber E containsa circular piston, H, which has wings or projections I onthe side adjoining the partition-plate or intermediate head O. These wings or projections are ar- 5 5 ranged at the periphery or edge of the piston, so as to form a circular recess'or. seat, J, in the center of the piston. This recess receives a reduced central portion or cylindrical bearing, K, projecting from the partition-plate or 6o intermediate head, C, as is fully shown in Fig. l. The projections or wings on the side of the piston maybe cast together or otherwise formed so as to constitute a zone or ring, which is secured to the piston, tion may be made separate and attached to the piston by suitable means. The piston and its wings may, however, also be made in one piece. The shape of the wings or projections is very much like.that ot' a ratchet-wheel or 7o section ot' a clutch; or, in other words, said projections have oblique faces running parallel with the periphery ofthe piston and square shoulders or abutmcnts extending at right anglesfrom the piston.- The latter is made some- 7 5 what smaller in diameter than the bore of the cylinder, for the object hereinafter stated.

A horizontal shaft, L, carrying the piston or winged wheel, extends through an end head,

M, of the cylinder or outer head of the Work- 8o ing-chamber and is journaled in a suitable bearing or box, N, rising from the bed-plate of the engine. A band-wheel, O, on said shaft L serves as a medium for communicating motion to machinery, 86o. An opening or port, P, ex- 8 5 tending obliquely through the partition-plate or intermediate head of the cylinder, serves to convey steam from the supply-chamber to the piston-wheel, and a port or opening, Q, extending through the periphery of said `partition-plate or head and the side thereof leading into the piston-chamber, serves to discharge the exhaust steam into a pipe, It, passing through the bed-plate of the engine.

The opera-tion' of an engine constructed as 95 above described .is as follows, viz: The steam, passing through the oblique port or opening in the partition-plate or head, impinges against the wings or projections of the piston and causes the rotation of the latter. In this manroo or else each projec- .65,

ner the various projections are successively brought in position to receive the steam issuing through the oblique port. The steam con-` place at the bottom of the cylinder, and immediately thereafter the live steam acts upon the Wing or projection which has last exhausted. Having thus described my invention, what I claimas new, and desire to secure by Iletters Patent, is-

In a rotary engine, the combination of the cylinder A, having partition C, provided with a circular projection or bearing, K, oblique steam-inlet port P, and right angular exhaustport Q, leading through the cylinder, with a revolving' piston, H, having a zone of wings or projections, J, extending over the periphery ot' the bearing K, as and. for the purpose herein set forth. Y

1n testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence oi' tw Witnesses.`

WILLIAM HENRY ROAGH.

Witnesses R. G. 000K, H. G. BONMAN. 

